When asked by special counsel Robert Hur’s co-counsel, Marc Krickbaum, in 2023 about a handwritten memo on Afghanistan during the Obama administration, President Joe Biden said he didn’t “remember” telling Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter of his book, “Promise Me, Dad,” he “just found all the classified stuff downstairs.”
In a new audio file released by Axios Friday, Biden said “I don’t remember” numerous times as Krickbaum questioned him on the second day of interviews in October 2023 about having classified documents he should not have had after leaving office.
“You said to Mark, ‘I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,’ and, so, you can imagine we are curious what you meant when you said, ‘I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,’” Krickbaum said.
Prominent liberals defended Biden’s “strong mental acuity” after special counsel Robert Hur’s report called out the leader’s “poor memory.” (Nicole Neri/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“I don’t remember,” Biden replied. “And I’m not supposed to speculate, right?”
“Correct,” Biden’s attorney, Bob Bauer, chimed in.
“So, OK, well, I don’t remember, and it may have been — I just don’t remember,” the former president mumbled.
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After explaining that he was referring to a conversation with Zwonitzer about a handwritten memo he wrote for former President Barack Obama, Biden replied, “I probably did. I don’t remember specifically, but my guess is I may have done that.”
Then, leading to the “classified stuff downstairs” comment, Zwonitzer asked Biden if he had found any documents in his home or if he told Zwonitzer about finding any while they worked together on the book in 2017.
Stumbling over his words, Biden replied, “No, the only thing I can remember is I wanted to be clear to him that I didn’t want what he just heard me say about the memo to Barack, even though it wasn’t a top secret thing (indiscernible), I didn’t, I didn’t want any of that mentioned. It was confidential.”
This image from special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation released by the Department of Justice Feb. 8, 2024, shows Joe Biden’s Delaware garage Dec. 21, 2022. (U.S. Department of Justice)
He clarified he didn’t mean confidential in the classification sense, but that he did not want it included in the book about his son, Beau.
They discussed boxes in the library, hallway and the “back of the garage,” with Biden noting he did not know “where in the hell” all of it was going, but that was the extent of his knowledge of what they contained.
“Not like I’m looking for something, like I’m trying to compile things. But just what’d they pack up, what’s here,” Biden said.
This image from special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation released by the Department of Justice Feb. 8, 2024, shows boxes next to Joe Biden’s desk in his Delaware home office in 2019. (U.S. Department of Justice)
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While the White House released the transcripts during his presidency, the audio of the interviews remained under wraps, with some speculating about his mental state as the reason.
Hur’s investigation, which concluded in 2024, found Biden should not be criminally charged for mishandling and retaining classified documents that detailed military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other national security topics.
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After Hur described the former president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Biden fired back, saying, “I’m well-meaning, and I’m an elderly man, and I know what the hell I’m doing. I’ve been president. I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation.”
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.